Cotton transgenics with Antisense AC1 gene for resistance against cotton leaf curl virus

Cotton leaf curl virus is a devastating pest in the North India and in small pockets of Southern states. Cotton leaf curldisease (CLCuD) is caused by a Geminivirus, transmitted by whitefly Bemisia tabaci vector. This is a serious problem inthe northern region and leads to yield losses up to 58% and 69% (ICAC recorder, 1999). Genetic engineering for cottontransgenics resistant to leaf curl disease (CLCuD) through antisense RNA approach is potential to tackle the disease incotton. Cotton transgenics resistant to leaf curl disease (CLCuD) using Antisense (rep) (Replicase protein) gene wasdeveloped via Agrobacterium mediated transformation. A binary vector carrying the Antisense rep gene along with thenpt II (neomycin phospho transferase) gene driven by CaMV-35S promoter and NOS (nopaline synthase) terminator wasused for transformation. The confirmation of the rep and npt II genes in the transgenic plants were verified by PCR andintegration of T-DNA into the plant genome was confirmed by Southern analysis. The individual transgenics were raisedin the green house and screened for the virus resistance. T2 progeny analysis showed classical Mendelian pattern ofinheritance